


Plans

by BilbosMom



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 02:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15133541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BilbosMom/pseuds/BilbosMom
Summary: Zeb and Kallus during their first few days on Lira San. Zeb has plans for their future.





	Plans

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic for Star Wars Rebels and this pairing. Just a one-shot for now.
> 
> I have no beta, so apologies for any errors. Enjoy!

Zeb and Kallus’ first three days on Lira San were a whirlwind of activity and sight-seeing. The welcoming party that had boarded their ship (nearly ruining Zeb’s carefully-planned surprise) whisked the pair down to the port city and from there straight to the capital for a welcoming feast. Zeb, who had visited Lira San several times over the war years, was greeted by many friends, both Lira San natives and refugees from Lasan. Kallus was understandably more reticent and stuck close to Zeb’s side; he made the excuse of not speaking much Lasat, though Zeb did manage to coax Kallus into conversation with the few attendees that spoke Basic. Zeb made a mental note to plan on teaching Kallus more Lasat soon so he could interact more with the locals. He had a lot of plans for helping Kallus feel comfortable here.

After that first night, at Zeb’s request Chava took them on a full tour of the capital city and much of the surrounding countryside. Everywhere they went Kallus was the center of attention, but not in the way either of them might have feared. Though his role in the destruction of Lasan was not a secret, and some of the refugees were wary, the Lira San Lasat were universally welcoming; they seemed just as happy to bring him into the fold as they had been to make Zeb feel at home on their hidden planet. Off-worlders being a rare site on Lira San, Kallus attracted far more questions about his lack of fur and strange feet than about his time with the Empire.

Zeb had worried that Kallus might not appreciate so much attention, but he was pleased to find instead that Kallus was more than willing to tolerate the Lasats’ curiosity. When they visited a small village at the outskirts of the capital, Kallus was swarmed by local Lasat younglings, brimming with questions and chattering nearly too fast for the beleaguered translator droid to keep up. Kallus tried to answer as many as he could while juggling rambunctious youngsters tugging at his clawless fingers and poking his unbent legs. Zeb found himself grinning like a fool as he watched Kallus negotiate one adventurous young one who had climbed up his side and swung her arms around his neck so she could better examine the blond fur on his face. Kallus laughed out loud and lifted the little girl up onto his shoulder; in that moment he caught Zeb’s eye and Zeb laughed too. It seemed like his plan to make Kallus fall in love with Lira San was going swimmingly.

By the time Zeb had convinced Chava that they had plenty of time to see Lira San’s sights and that he should really take Kallus to see his house, they were both exhausted from their travels. They took a short ride to the small village where Zeb had acquired a house some years ago. After the speeder dropped them off at the edge of town, they took their time on the winding dirt path to Zeb’s house, which was situated partway up a hill overlooking the town.

“This is a peaceful place,” Kallus commented as he gazed at the trees shading their path. “But rather more rural than I might have expected from you.”

Zeb shrugged. “I was raised in a city, and at first I thought I’d like a place in the capital. I spent a while looking at homes there, but nothing really appealed to me. Chava took me here once to visit a friend of hers, and it turns out I prefer the quiet out here instead. I think the years on Lothal made all that hustle and bustle seem unappealing. That and old age has made me slow.”

Kallus rolled his eyes, “Old age indeed. If you’re old, what does that make me?”

Zeb grinned, “Slightly-less-than-old?”

Kallus huffed, “Just because we’re older than we were doesn’t mean we’re _old_ , Zeb. There are still plenty of good years left for us.”

Zeb turned his head to ask what that meant, but found Kallus had stopped and was looking up the trail ahead of them. They had just rounded a bend, and Zeb’s house was now visible across the open hillside. It was a wooden bungalow, built out of a local reddish-brown wood; in typical Lira San style, the house was well-blended with its surroundings. The low-slung roof mimicked the rise of the hill behind it, while the back half of the house was built into the hillside itself. A wide veranda surrounded three sides of the house with a small garden stood to one side. On the other side, a massive tree shaded the house and porch, spreading branches upward and outward.

“Oh, Zeb,” Kallus breathed. “It’s beautiful.”

Zeb puffed up at the compliment. “Thanks,” he replied, “I’ve done some work on it here and there, when I’ve had the chance to get away. Added a new skylight last time I was here. One of the local villagers maintains the garden for me, but now we’ll be here a while I want to expand it some and add a couple of new vegetables I’ve found since I first planted it. And that tree branch there is just itching for a swing, don’t you think? I always wanted a tree swing, when I was growing up. I bet we could build one, can’t be that hard…” Zeb trailed off, realizing he was babbling.

Kallus just looked at him fondly and smiled. “I like the sound of that. But for now can I settle for a tour and a plan for dinner?”

Zeb chuckled and scratched the back of his head self-consciously. “Course, yeah, let’s head inside.”

As Zeb moved ahead to unlock the door, he mentally chastised himself for his little monologue. He and Kallus had grown undeniably closer during the war, but they had never had the time to move beyond the unspoken tension that often filled their moments alone together. Zeb was certain there was something there, but his plan in bringing Kallus to Lira San was for them to have the time and space to explore the possibility. Slowly. With the hopeful conclusion that they could stay here together, perhaps for the rest of their lives. And here he was, blabbing on about plans to move in and build swings together when they had never so much as kissed. Patience had never been Zeb’s strong suit.

Repressing a sigh, Zeb swung open the door and stepped aside to let Kallus through into the front room. The entire front of the house, which was the portion above ground, comprised a large open-plan room with living and dining spaces and a kitchen. The walls and shelves were decorated with local Lira San artwork which Zeb had picked up on his past visits, as well as a couple of objects from Lasan that he had found in black markets in the Outer Rim. There were also some representations of his _Ghost_ family: a painting by Sabine, a small carving of a loth-cat, and a battered pilot’s helmet bearing the Rebel Alliance symbol. Zeb had even pinned some of young Jacen’s early fingerpaintings to a wall in the kitchen.

Zeb looked over nervously at Kallus, who was taking the room in with eager eyes. Kallus turned to Zeb and smiled.

“It’s wonderful, Zeb. I can see a lot of you in this room. And how nice to have a home made of wood and not a cold metal bunk.”

Zeb chuckled, “Thanks. I love the _Ghost_ , but this has been a welcome retreat. Waking up to the sound of birds, smelling the open air when you open a window,” He shrugged, “I guess I didn’t realize how different it was to live on a world with such a connection to nature.”

Kallus nodded as he explored the knick-knacks on the shelves behind the sofa. “After growing up on Coruscant, everywhere that has a scrap of foliage seems like a wildlife park, but I have to agree that Lira San is particularly lovely.” He picked up a local trinket and turned it over in his hands. “Do you suppose you’ll stay here then? With your people?”

“That’s the plan, yeah,” Zeb replied. “Not gonna rule out going for visits or anything but as far as home goes, I think I’m ready to settle down here. I’ve had enough of roaming for one lifetime.” Zeb did not add the part about Kallus settling down with him. Patience.

Kallus gave him a rueful smile and set down the trinket. “Roaming has certainly lost its appeal, especially after the war. It will be nice to live a life where the stakes aren’t always so high. I might even find the time to be rather boring.”

“I don’t think you could ever be boring, Alex, there’s too much of Fulcrum left in you. You’d probably end up unearthing price fixing at the local market or bribery among the school officials or something.”

Kallus tipped his head back and laughed, one of his rare, deep-body laughs that always left Zeb feeling a bit shivery and lightheaded. “You’re probably right,” Kallus said. “I’ll have to leave being boring to you.”

“Sounds good to me,” Zeb replied. “I’m hoping to have the sort of routine where the most exciting part of my week is picking up groceries in the village.”

Kallus smiled and looked at him in a way that Zeb couldn’t quite identify but that made him flush a little. “I think settling down is going to look very good on you, Zeb.” Kallus said, “It’s time.”

Zeb smiled and nodded, not entirely sure they were still discussing the same thing. Then he realized that he had been smiling and nodding for a moment too long, and cleared his throat.

“Ah, anyway, the tour.” Zeb said, turning to gesture around him. “This here is the front room, and there’s the kitchen of course. I re-did that about a year ago, made it a bit more, ah, accessible.” Zeb did not say “human-friendly” though that’s exactly what he had had in mind when he updated the kitchen.

Kallus stepped onto the tile, trailing his hand across the upper cabinets as he looked around. “When did you become such a handyman?” he asked.

“Well I had help, of course, but I dunno really. I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands. No more bucket heads to bash in my future, so I guess I’m switching over to home improvement.”

“Do you plan to make any other changes?”

Zeb refrained from blurting out that he would change anything Kallus would like, and instead went with a more neutral response. “I, uh, I’m keeping my options open.” He cleared his throat and turned. “The rest of the house is this way.” He led Kallus down a skylight-lit hallway which extended back into the portion of the house that was built into the hillside.

“Fresher’s here, and this door is the storeroom. Couple of closets here, and…” he paused and opened the last door on the left. “This is the bedroom.”

Zeb opened the door and stepped inside, Kallus following close behind. The large bedroom was entirely underground but lit by several skylights which prevented it from feeling cave-like. The walls held several colorful tapestries depicting some of Lira San’s natural wonders. At one end of the room were two beds.

“So, um, there’s just the one bedroom, but since you were coming over I called ahead and asked Chava to have the big bed replaced with two separate ones. Looks like she managed that, must thank her for taking care of it. Didn’t think one of us ought to sleep on the sofa after all, and we’ve bunked together before, and it was no trouble….” Zeb clamped his jaw shut to stop himself babbling again.

Kallus stood looking at the two beds, his face unreadable. “What happened to the big bed?” he asked.

Zeb blinked. “Ah, I think Chava’s friend in the village is storing it for now.” He shifted his weight back and forth, hoping he hadn’t overstepped in putting them both in the same room. His plans didn’t necessarily involve making good use of the bedroom for a little while, but he didn’t want to scare Kallus off.

Kallus simply nodded for a moment, looking around the room. The silence stretched between them, the same old tension that seemed to build between them when they were alone. Zeb was about to say something, anything, when Kallus squared his shoulders and straightened up. He turned to look Zeb in the eye and said firmly, “I think you should switch it back. The bigger bed will work better for us.”

Zeb stared. And blinked. He looked at the two beds, then back at Kallus. His mouth opened and closed once, twice; unable to find his voice, he simply nodded. Was Kallus saying what Zeb thought he was saying? A bed “for us?”

Having delivered his statement, Kallus seemed to deflate a bit. “Right,” he said, looking at the floor. Zeb was still unable to form coherent words. Silence again.

“Well,” Kallus said at last, “I’m going to go… check out the view.”

“Oh, um, okay,” Zeb finally managed to say. “That’s, yes, okay. Okay. I’ll… call about the...” He gulped and gestured vaguely at the two beds.

Kallus nodded. They stared at each other again, neither of them moving. Just as Zeb opened his mouth to try again Kallus abruptly turned and headed for the front of the house.

Zeb took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was not exactly how he had planned for things to go, but this was good, wasn’t it? Kallus had just taken a step. Or something. This was good, it had to be. Yet somehow Zeb was even more nervous than he had been before. Zeb hadn’t thought about it when making his grand plans to convince Kallus to stay with him, but he had gotten pretty rusty at flirting. And that had been flirting, right? He was probably going to have to throw most of his plans out the window.

Though all Zeb really wanted to do was run after Kallus and figure out exactly where they stood after that little moment, he contacted Chava about getting her friend to replace the bed. She laughed at him, told him he should never have bothered with switching it out in the first place, and wished him luck. Zeb was too distracted to notice her teasing.

Zeb took a moment to gather himself before he opened the front door of the house. He found Kallus standing on the porch, leaning against the railing and looking out across the valley toward the sun that was just beginning to set. His blond hair, hanging loose and a little long in the style he had favored since joining the Rebellion, fluttered a bit in the evening breeze. Kallus’ posture might have appeared relaxed to someone that did not know him so well, but Zeb could see how Kallus was gripping the railing tightly, and how his jaw clenched as Zeb walked out onto the porch.

Kallus didn’t turn around as Zeb stepped toward him. Throwing his plans and caution to the wind, while praying that he was not making a terrible mistake, Zeb moved to stand directly behind Kallus, stepping in close to press his chest against Kallus’ back. He wrapped his arms around Kallus from behind, keeping his grip loose in the off chance he was about to be elbowed in the gut for his presumption.

Kallus tensed at the unexpected contact for one agonizing moment, then let out a contented sigh and leaned back against Zeb’s chest. Zeb’s heart did a little flip; he squeezed Kallus a little tighter and tucked his chin over Kallus’ shoulder. They stood there for a moment, watching the sunset. Silence once more, this one gentler and full of promise.

“You know,” Zeb said, voice low as he tentatively nuzzled the smooth patch of skin below Kallus’ ear, “this is not exactly how I had planned for this to go. I had several romantic evenings planned out; Lira San has all sorts of nice getaways. There was even stargazing on a mountaintop. I was going to spend the next couple of weeks convincing you to let me hold you like this. It’s all ruined, thanks to you.” Zeb softened these words with a kiss to Kallus’ temple.

Kallus chuckled and laid his hands overtop Zeb’s across his own torso. “You didn’t need two weeks, Zeb. I think we’ve been dancing around each other long enough. You’re just annoyed because my plan was faster.”

Zeb snorted, “Your plan almost gave me a heart attack.”

He couldn’t see it but Zeb was certain that Kallus was smirking at him. “You looked very adorable. Like some kind of baffled fish. I almost kissed you right then.”

Zeb’s heart did a little flip again, and he rumbled in Kallus’ ear, “You could kiss me right now.”

He loosened his grip and stepped back slightly. Kallus twisted in Zeb’s arms until their chests were pressed together, and brought his arms up behind Zeb’s neck. Zeb took only a moment to marvel at the fact he was finally able to do this before their lips met and he stopped thinking for a little while. Kallus’ lips were soft against his own, and his beard scratched pleasantly against Zeb’s cheeks. Zeb deepened the kiss and his hands moved to tighten on Kallus’ hips. He felt Kallus sigh a little into his mouth, and Zeb eagerly traced Kallus’ tongue with his own. They stayed like that for some time, learning one another’s lips and tongues and little noises before they broke apart, out of breath. Kallus reached up and pulled Zeb’s neck down, pressing their foreheads together as they both gasped for air. The setting sun turned the light around them golden.

After a moment, Kallus smiled at Zeb and ran his fingers through the fur at the back of Zeb’s neck. “You know, we can still do all of the things you planned. Just because you don’t need to seduce me doesn’t mean my visit to Lira San has to suffer.”

Zeb smiled back, but straightened up a little to look Kallus in the eye. “Alex,” he said, “I didn’t bring you to Lira San, to my home here, just for a visit. It’s a great place to visit, of course, and there’s so much more that I want to show you, it’s just, I was hoping… I was hoping that you’d like to stay here. On Lira San. With me. As in, us. Together. On Lira San, and—”

Kallus placed his hand against the side of Zeb’s face, mercifully cutting him off. “I would love that, Zeb. I would like nothing more than for us to be together here.” He grinned, “You can be boring and work on the house while I solve local crimes and develop conspiracy theories about our neighbors.”

Zeb grinned back and turned his head to kiss Kallus’ palm. He wrapped his arms tight around Kallus’ back and squeezed. “Good. Then we’ll stay. And you can help me build that swing for the big tree.”

Kallus laughed. “I won’t pretend to be much of a carpenter, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out. We’ll have a long time to perfect the swing.” He laid his head against Zeb’s shoulder and sighed contentedly.

Zeb chuckled and laid his cheek on the top of Kallus’ head, watching the sunset from the porch of what was now their home. This had turned out to be his best plan ever.

 


End file.
